There, There
by BirukiMeraki
Summary: "Je t'aime, Mon fils." She was beautiful.
The sun was just setting when Chat landed on the roof of the bakery when he noticed something amiss. Hmm, that was odd. He walked over to the hatch and pulled on it lightly. Sure enough, he was right; the hatch was locked. He placed his feet on either side of the hatch and strained upwards. Yup, it's locked tight.

This was definitely odd.

Scaling the wall to her window, he cupped both hands against the glass and tried to peer in. No luck; the curtains were drawn. It also doesn't look like there was anyone inside.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Chat vaulted off the building and landed in the alley behind the bakery. He tried the back door and was surprised to find it locked as well; the Dupain-Chengs don't usually lock the back door until closing time. Rounding the corner to the front of the building he was shocked to the see the bakery closed. The bakery is closed? But it's a Friday! Bakeries don't close, don't they?

Truly curious now, he climbed back to Marinette's window and peered in again. The curtains were still drawn.

"Hello!" he called out, lightly rapping on the window. "Anyone in there?"

No answer.

Out of curiosity, he tried the window. To his delight, it opened. Wait, that's really careless of them to leave a window unlocked. Maybe he should see if everything's all right.

Coiling himself gracefully, he slid in through the window.

Chat looked around the room to see if there's anything amiss. He was just about to cross the room and satisfy his curiosity when he heard a rustle. Immediately his hand went to his baton, his posture ready to strike.

It came from the bed.

He cautiously tiptoed over to it and climbed the ladder to peer over the rim. In the bed, under a mess of blankets was Marinette, coiled on her side as her breathing looked a little unsteady.

"Princess?" he whispered, alarmed. He climbed up the last few rungs and crouched next to her.

She turned around to look at him. "Chat?" she croaked. Her pale skin looked grey and her lips were pale and cracked.

"Princess, what's wrong?"

"Not feeling well," she croaked back as she settled down on her back and tried to smile at him. "Sorry I didn't open the window for you."

"No, it's no problem. I got it open on my own," he tried to get her to smile. It worked. Partially. "What's wrong with you, Princess?"

She let out a small, dry cough. "Fever, mostly."

"Where are your parents?"

"On holiday. I didn't want to bother them. I'll be okay by tonight."

But he could see that she's not going to be okay in just a couple of hours. He vaulted off her bed and ran to the kitchen, where he rummaged amongst the cabinets and got a large flask, which he filled with warm water. He then ran back up to her bed and poured a glass of it. "You should drink, Princess," he offered the glass to her and helped her up when she began struggling.

She brought the glass to her lips, hands shaking. He steadied the glass for her and helped her take tiny sips. "Thanks, Chat. I was getting a bit thirsty," she smiled weakly at him as she passed the half-drank glass.

He gently pushed it back to her. "Drink the entire thing, Princess. You need to replenish your liquids."

She eyed him and where normally she would tease him about that, she just meekly sipped the entire glass before collapsing back into bed.

He took off a glove and felt her forehead. "Princess, you're burning up!" he exclaimed. She just quirked her lip infinitesimally before closing her eyes.

Chat scampered to the kitchen again, where he spotted a kitchen towel just now. The towel he soaked it in cold water and wrung it out until it was more than slightly damp. This he used to gently dab on her entire face before soaking it again and placing the damp cloth on her forehead.

"Thank you, Chat."

He waved a hand and grinned as he threw the curtains open. "You need air circulation!" he said as he began spinning his arms crazily, as if to direct the stuffy air in the room out the window.

As the sun went down and the moon went up, Chat made her drink more water and resoaked the towel several more times, wiping her face after he did.

In the wee hours of the morning, he could see her breathing getting deeper and her brow cleared. He took this as his cue to have a little catnap himself.

When he woke up several hours later, the first thing he did was go to the kitchen, where he began getting himself busy.

* * *

Marinette woke up to a pair of huge green eyes inches away from hers. "Good morning, Chat." She was glad to hear her voice sounding stronger than it was yesterday.

"Are you hungry?"

She shook her head.

"Well, you should eat! You need to keep your strength up!" Gently but firmly, he grasped her shoulders and tried to get her to sit up. Smiling to herself, she allowed herself to be sat up. She was surprised when he thrust a bowl of something lightly steaming before her. "Have some soup!"

She eyed him again but tentatively took a spoon and sipped a little soup into her mouth. A few spoonfuls in she turned to look at him. "Did you make this, Chat?"

"Yes!" he beamed, more than a little proud.

"You're not a very good cook, aren't you?" she teased.

The stricken look that crossed his face made her giggle and he just hung his head sadly. "You shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you, Princess," he said mournfully.

She smiled weakly as she tried to place a hand on his cheek but didnt quite have the strength so she opted to place a hand on his instead. "It's the effort that counts." She squeezed his hand with as much strength as she could muster, which was not much.

The gesture made him grin widely. "Come now, finish your soup!" He snatched the now dry cloth and rushed to the bathroom to soak it again. This time he came back with a different towel in a basin half filled with water. "I thought you might like to freshen up," he smiled sheepishly.

"Thank you, Chat," Marinette smiled as he placed the basin next to her.

"Don't tip it now," he warned as he stepped out of the room. "Yell if you need me!"

Shaking her head in amusement, she began to undress herself and sponge herself off.

That night, under Chat's careful ministrations, Marinette found herself strong enough to actually get out of bed; an occasion he celebrated by getting her up on the roof. They spent a couple of hours on the roof, talking and watching the people walk by down below. Several times, a person would stop in front of the bakery, only to read the sign and walk away.

"So where did your parents go off to?" Chat asked as he flicked at a piece of lint stuck to his suit.

"My dad won a trip for two to Château de Chambord and they decided to make it like a sort of second honeymoon. I didn't want them to worry so I thought I could sleep it off. You could see how well that worked," she grinned at him awkwardly, cheeks slightly flushed in embarrassment. "How about you, Chat? You're spending this much time on me; isn't anyone going to notice you're not at home?"

He shook his head. "Everyone's busy. If they missed me, I'd know. As of now, I'm in the clear," he winked.

She nodded, not thinking too much into that statement. Then she turned her head to look at him in the eye. "Thank you, by the way. You're very kind to have done this for me."

To this, Chat only smiled at her softly. "No one deserves to be alone when they're sick. I just hope that you get better soon."

The somber tone he used gave her a moment's pause and she just looked at the city skyline, not knowing what else to say.

They remained that way for a about another hour.

"Well," Chat said as he stood up and stretched. "Time to get you back inside. Don't want you to get chilly." He went to her and slid his hand under her shoulders and knees. "Up you go!" he lifted her up.

"I can walk now, Chat," Marinette protested, her cheeks reddening again. "You don't have to carry me!"

"You need to conserve your strength!" He only beamed at her happily. "And have some more soup!"

"Do I have to?" she groaned.

"Yes!"

* * *

A/N: Part of Marichat May: _**Day 4; Protective Chat.**_ I can't guarantee that I'll hit all the days but I'll certainly try!


End file.
